Migration

Here are some recent(ish) migration statistics for Wales:[1]

• the net inflow of international migrants to Wales in 2012/13 was 14,000;
• there was also a net inflow from rest of UK but decreasing;
• within Wales the net flow is from north to south and, a little, from South East Wales to South West Wales;
• one statistical anomaly seems to be the result of the temporary migration of students from other parts of the UK, a phenomenon I will come back to later.

Migration is not as big an issue for Wales as it is for the other parts of the UK. We do well to give it consideration though. The significance of migration lies in the importance of place. It is precisely because place is so important that migration is significant. People generally like to live in the place they grew up. But conflict, corruption, ecological stress, rising expectations created by the ready access to see how green the grass is on the other side of the fence given by the internet and social media in particular, push people to move. But there are also pull factors as we in the West, for example, recruit workers from the South to fill our service vacancies.

When people move, two things happen: challenges are presented, and opportunities emerge. We are familiar with some of the challenges. Are we looking out for the opportunities?

Two significant opportunities stand out: firstly, the opportunities arising from the arrival of believers with attendant challenges; and secondly, the opportunities arising from the arrival of unbelievers.

Firstly, we have the phenomenon of the arrival of followers of Christ from far flung places. Quoting Enoch Wan, Knud Jørgensen writes, “The migrants are on the move and so are God’s people: ‘As people move geographically and spiritually, the Church should follow the moving of the Spirit accordingly.’”[2] Those who are disciples of Christ migrate carrying the message and missionary initiative. “Today’s migration from the global south to the north and west represents a new dynamic witness amid a faltering Christianity in Europe and North America,” argues Jørgensen.[3]

So, the question is, how much should the church in Wales adjust in the light of the global expansion of this form of Christian expression? Are our traditions flexible enough to accommodate those who come with different traditions? 

Along with this opportunity, the inclusion of migrants in our churches brings often complex pastoral needs. I recently talked to an African woman who has moved to the UK to work in the care sector. The other week she was suspended because, it would seem, a co-worker and resident conspired to lie about her, in retaliation for her integrity. How does a pastor respond to that? 

We in the rich West pay people in the poor South to leave their own parents to care for ours. And they are joining our churches. How do we support those brothers and sisters when their own parents become needy?

Secondly, as we are now familiar, we are now living in close proximity to people who, even 50 years ago, were the ‘mission field’. Some have suggested that since such people are now on our shores, we no longer need to send missionaries to their countries. This is naïve for a number of reasons that I won’t go into here. But the reality of the opportunity on our shores is obvious. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others are now living in our cities and towns, if not much in our rural areas. The big feature that makes these migrations different from those of previous generations is that these migrations form ‘diaspora communities’. These are communities that retain their connection to their homeland. In the past migrants expected to settle and make their new country their home for the rest of their lives. No more. They fly back and forth, Skype their relatives, and even manage their affairs back home through the convenience of their mobile phone.

The opportunity this presents is huge: not only are the individuals and families on our doorsteps accessible to the gospel, so too are their networks and communities back home, if ever they come to put their faith in Christ.

---

[1] Migration Statistics. Online: https://gov.wales/statistics-and-research/migration-statistics/?lang=en [cited 1 March 2019].

[2] Knud Jørgensen, “Edinburgh, Tokyo and Cape Town: Comparing and Contrasting on the Way to 2110” in The Lausanne Movement: A Range of Perspectives (eds. Margunn Serigstad Dahle, Lars Dahle and Knud Jørgensen. Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series 22; Oxford: Regnum, 2014), 358, citing Enoch Wan, “Celebration, Consultation and Congress: From Edinburgh 1910 to Tokyo 2010 and Cape Town 2010” in Evangelical and Frontier Mission: Perspectives on the Global Progress of the Gospel (eds. A. ScottMoreau and Beth Snodderly; Oxford: Regnum, 2011), 229.

[3] Jørgensen, “Edinburgh, Tokyo and Cape Town”, 358.